Indian GCCs: Captives to e-twins

Global capability centres (GCCs) in India have come a long way from the early 1990s when they were referred to as 'captives' of their global headquarters (HQs) to today, when they are emerging as the 'digital twins" of their HQs, replicating the work done at their parent organisations and adding more value than ever before.

- AYUSHMAN BARUAH

Indian GCCs today are more like mirrors of their parent organisations in the kind of work they do.

"Whatever is being done there can be done from here too. Distance has already vanished in a post-pandemic world, and the Indian entity has become as important or as imperative as any other office for the parent corporation," said Srikanth Srinivasan, vice-president and head, membership and outreach, National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom).

For US-based enterprise software company Planview, its India centre is actually more than a digital twin; rather, it is a digital 'next generation'.

"We build today for what Planview wants to see tomorrow. This is because we had the opportunity to build everything brand new, right from skills to process. In a way, we are future-proofing the organisation," said Shalini Sankarshana, managing director (MD) and country manager, India, Planview.

She added that GCC evolution typically passes through a journey. It begins as an outsourcing unit of the parent company. Later, it moves on to higher involvement and modular ownership. Later still, it reaches the stage where the GCC takes complete ownership of a product or service line.

"At Planview, we set up a 360degree model where we directly leapfrogged to becoming like a digital twin of our parent organisation. This essentially means, that all of our products, services, and functions are represented in our Bengaluru office and managed from here. Collaboration with all of Planview is key here," said Sankarshana.